Yerushalayim, March 23, 2022…Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s Minister of Interior, while on a  tour of Har Hazeisim reaffirmed the government’s determination “to secure the ancient cemetery at all cost”. “I will do my utmost to bring security to visitors and mourners,“ Minister Shaked said. The Minister was accompanied by MK Nir Orbach (Yamima), who frequently visits the hallowed mountain. He was the first MK to tour Har Hazeisim after the current government was sworn in.

The tour of Har Hazeisim was led by Shalom Lerner, director of the International Committee for Har Hazeisim (ICHH) and Leah Bauman, an expert tour guide on the history of Har Hazeisim. Mr. Lerner said that both the Minister and MK were moved by the impressive history of the mountain which dates back to the Bais Hamikdash where the kohanim prepared for the avodah, stored the ashes of the parah adumah and where the new Chodesh was proclaimed. It is also the burial site of 150,000 Jews dating back to the era of the nevi’im (prophets).

Ms. Shaked is no stranger to the work of the ICHH. As Minister of Justice, she sought to introduce legislation that would impose stiff penalties on those who commit crimes in a cemetery like Har Hazeisim. Jeff Daube, the co-chair of the Israel ICHH  had documented the stiff penalties that were on the books in many states in the US  as well as around the world.

Founded in 2010, the ICHH is credited with greatly improving security on Har Hazeisim where some 150,000 Jews dating back to the Nevi’im are buried. Some of the measures that ICHH was instrumental in instituting were a network of 176 surveillance cameras, a local police station, new fencing, and the deployment of a Border Patrol unit amongst other improvements. It is partnering with the Israeli and Jerusalem municipal governments to build a magnificent Visitor Education Center on Har Hazeisim.

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